The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Plum Tree, hereinafter denominated varietally as "Rancho Cinco", and more particularly to a plum tree which is somewhat broadly similar to the Westerner Plum Tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,609) and the Gar Fantasy Plum Tree (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 5,178) in its physical characteristics, but which is distinguished therefrom and characterized principally as to novelty by producing fruit which are ripe for commercial harvesting and shipment approximately on August 6 under the ecological conditions prevailing at Fresno, Fresno County, Calif., the subject variety maturing for harvesting and shipment approximately two or three weeks after the Westerner Plum Tree and approximately seven weeks before the Gar Fantasy Plum Tree. Further, the subject variety produces a semi-clingstone fruit which has a pleasing shape, and an attractive skin color.
The inventor has labored for decades in an effort to produce new and novel varieties of fruit trees. To develop these new varieties, the inventor has performed assorted activities including the selective cross breeding of trees having known and desired characteristics, the selective evaluation of chance seedlings from unknown parents, as well as routinely inspecting his several orchards in an effort to discover chance mutations of various types. The present variety of Plum Tree "Rancho Cinco" is an open-pollinated chance seedling of unknown parentage which was discovered within the cultivated area of the applicant's experimental block of trees which were growing on his Ranch No. 1 that is located at Kings Canyon and Fowler Avenues in Fresno, Calif.